I had a whole pile of crystallised ginger taking up space in my kitchen cabinets (my kitchen supplies are not normal 🫠), so I decided to get experimental! And honestly, I am so glad that I did. I had run out of eggs, so I decided to make shortbread, using my Nanas favourite recipe that she shared with me. This shortbread has some cornflour to improve the mouth-feel, and has a rich creamed butter and icing sugar base. And then all I had to do was throw in some crystallised ginger. And oh boy did this turn out a treat! The ginger looks ~soo aesthetic✨~ like little stained glass windows and takes on a chewy almost taffy-like change. The shortbread is perfectly crisp as it always should be and the combination is the perfect pairing.
The best thing is how simple the recipe is, this took all of 15 minutes to throw together!
How to make these ginger gem shortbread
Ingredients:
I used a traditional shortbread recipe that uses pantry staples including butter, icing sugar (aka powdered sugar, confectioners sugar) & cornflour (aka corn starch). The only special ingredient you’ll be unlikely to have to on hand is the crystallised ginger. For this recipe the crystallised ginger is essential to make those taffy-like bits in the shortbread. Normal ginger hasn’t been processed the same way and wont work. And using ginger spice will nicely flavour the shortbread (obviously you’d use 1/2 teaspoon – 1 teaspoon, not 1/2 cup!), but also wont give those yummy chewy pieces.
Equipment:
All you need is a standmixer & oven. If you don’t have a standmixer, you can use a hand mixer. Alternatively if you’ve got muscles like popeye and determination (I get it, these biscuits are amazing) you can cream the butter and icing sugar by hand using an old school egg beater.
Experience:
Super beginner friendly! Literally all you need to do is cream together the butter and icing sugar, then add all the other ingredients in. Smush it in to a roll. Then slice the thickness of the biscuits you want, pop then in the oven and you’re good to go!
Tips and tricks for the best ginger gem shortbread
Try not to over mix or over work the dough when shaping, otherwise the shortbread base looses its lovely crumbly texture.
If you want to only bake a small batch, I would recommend mixing the full batch below, then when you make them in to rolls, wrap in clingwrap and freeze! They will last really well in the freezer, and whenever you want more, you can bring out the frozen log, cut it whilst still frozen, place on the tray, and just add 2-3 more minutes on to the baking time. Easy biscuits ready in a flash!
Taste best day of baking, but will last well the week! Alternatively use the freezing method I mentioned above if you don’t think you’ll get through them all.
Please let me know how you got on! Leave any comments or questions down below 👇
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Cat tax
This is a small section I have on my recipe posts highlighting one of my cats, or a guest cat I’ve come across recently! I’d love to receive photos of your purrfect cats – so send them through and they might get featured on one of my recipe posts!!
This is the beautiful ginger tom cat I met on my walk around Howth head in Dublin, Ireland! Super chatty and cuddly cat 😻
Ginger gem shortbread
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 150°C (302°F) fan bake.
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Cream together icing sugar and butter until light and creamy.
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Sift the flour and corn starch in with the creamed butter and mix until just incorporated.
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Turn out the dough onto a work surface (it will be crumbly!) and add in the crystallised ginger pieces, pressing the dough together, and shape into a round log.
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Using a sharp knife, cut the shortbread into biscuits 1cm (0.4") thick, and arrange on the trays, leaving a little room for spreading.
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Bake the shortbread for 18 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
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Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.
